A woman was killed and a man sustained severe burn injuries after a private bus they were travelling in caught fire and exploded in the Varachha area of Surat City, Gujarat, on Tuesday night.
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15 passengers were on board when the Rajdhani travels bus caught fire, which spread quickly in the vehicle.
“While all other passengers managed to alight in time, a woman and a man got stuck in the burning bus. While the woman was charred to death, the man, who suffered severe burn injuries, was somehow pulled out of the bus by some people,” Chief Fire Officer of Surat, Basant Pareek, told PTI.
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A video, captured by Dhaval Rajsinh Chauhan and shared by Viral Bhayani, showed the bus on fire in the middle of the street. Some people can be seen jumping out of the burning bus. The incident caused a huge traffic jam.
Watch the video here –
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There were reportedly very few passengers in the bus when it started its journey towards Bhavnagar from the Katargam area. When the bus reached Hirabaug Circle around 9.30 pm to take more passengers, it was engulfed in flames after a sudden spark followed by a blast. An explosion in the AC compressor reportedly caused the fire.
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“We believe a spark in the engine area started the blaze. The fire spread after it caused an explosion in the AC compressor of the vehicle. Due to presence of foam and other synthetic materials in the bus, the fire spread very quickly,” the officer said.
